The original How To Train Your Dragon is a perfect movie. The makers of the new live action version were wise to not mess too much with it.
As such, you get pretty much a shot for shot remake of the original. It’s good, in the sense that the original is good. So I’m left with the question, why does this exist?
From BoxOfficeMojo.com:
Oh. That’s why.
But from an artistic standpoint, was How To Train Your Dragon a movie that needed to be made? What does it bring to the table that the other one didn’t have?
How To Train Your Dragon
Well, we can start with the cast. Jay Baruchel has a distinctive voice that lends well to the humor but sometimes faltered a bit during the more emotional moments. The new kid (Mason Thames) does a much better job in those moments. But conversely, he can’t hold a candle to Baruchel when it comes to the more snarky moments.
I think of when Hiccup says:
“Thanks for nothing, you useless reptile.”
It’s delivered impeccably in the original and a sad carbon copy in the new one.
The village is far more, diverse of course. There’s a throwaway line about how all these disparate people came together to found Berk, to try to explain why there’s black people in a Viking village. Well, at least they tried I suppose.
But that’s really a weak attempt at “The message.” It’s there, it’s mentioned, and then that’s it. It follows the story pretty much perfectly after that.
I did enjoy having Gerard Butler for Stoick play it in live action. However Nick Frost as Gobber just doesn’t have the same charm as Craig Ferguson.
Amusingly Ruff Nutt and Tuff Nutt are redheads, probably the first time redheads actually replaced blondes. They weren’t bad, especially Tuff Nutt who looks like he leapt right from the cartoon. He looks like a meth addicted Jake Busey, and that’s saying something.
Astrid is, of course, a girl of color but she does OK in the role. Fishlegs, however, is lacking.
Snotlout gets the most character development, having a father who basically is embarrassed at him but gains his respect at the end.
Except… that arc is already being done by the main character! I suppose it’s something but really, just carbon copying of carbon copy now?
The special effects range from breathtaking when Hiccup takes his first big flight to dodgy as hell. When they are all on the alpha’s island lined up on the beach, boy is it clear they are on a set.
Reality
There is a reality that is built in animation that we can accept. When Hiccup gets thrown around or has a spill on the ground, you just accept it as cartoon physics.
It just doesn’t register as a real problem. But when you move to live action, these same moments have you wondering why these characters aren’t dead. You just can’t do some of the same things in live action as you do in full animation.
This also causes even bigger problems with the dragons. For whatever reason I can’t quite put my finger on, Toothless just seems to be more of a background player.
In the original, he’s a full fledged part of the world. He comes alive and you feel his and Hiccup’s bond growing.
Everything to grow this bond in the original is also in the movie. So what gives?
My guess is the uncanny valley. It’s not that he looked “fake” per se. But there is something that can’t quite be crossed when mixing the real world with the computer world.
It seems that the connection you could feel in full animation, can’t quite be replicated in the mixed world.
Verdict
So is it worth seeing? Well not really. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with it. I don’t know how I can rate it as “total shit” because it’s not. It’s simply doesn’t answer the fundamental question: “What was the point?”
If I can watch this story, why wouldn’t I watch the original when this offers nothing better than what’s already been?
Some of these live actions remakes tell the story in a different way, to varying results. Few do it better. Most do it worse. How To Train Your Dragon does it the same. But that’s just not good enough.
